Electrically-driven vehicle



March 23 1926. 1,577,504

M. E. THOMAS ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN VEHICLE Filed July 21, 1922 Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

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To all whom it-may concern:

Be it-knoavn that I, M. EDGAR, THQMAS, a citizen of the United States, a resident of Iiiverview Manor, Yestchester County, State: of- Ncw York, have invented anhl mprove ment in Electrically-Driven Vehicles, of which thefollowingis aspecification lvlypresent invention relates-to electrically driven vehicles and more particularly, but not so limited, to comparatively small vehicles which are designed and intended to derive their powerfrom an' outside source of current, suchf'j as the usual house or lighting circuit,

It is the; object of the present invention to: devise vehicles of the character specified briefly above which shall be very simple in construction, which may be: readily m ma factured, and. which may forthat reason he sold at a price which will recommend, itself to a very wide class ofpurchasers, which shall be simple to operate, in factso simple that a child. can reaglily and safely operate the same, and which shall be so constructed and designed as to avoid any chance of n e t h 'chi l- Oth rp so pera -v ing thesame.

In one Of t orms my; pr se t e i n comprises means, such aflexible connecting cable, for supplying electrie. current, to the electric motor driving the vehicle, ,frcm any suitable outside sourceofpower, such as the orgdinany house or lighting circuit. Preferably the flexible connecting cable'is so constructed and desi ned .asto be. and'easily disconnectib le upon a predetermined degree ofztension being-applied to the same the limit of its length,

The invention aims also to provide simple but highly ingenious. and efiicient driving and reversing mechanismfor the vehicle, the. said driving and reversing mechanism being preferably so constructed, designed, and arranged, as to act as abrakein' chang ing from forwardto reverse speed, or vice.

versa, The vehicle ofthe present invention,

in one, of its forms is capable ofpi'opulsion in any desired direction" and to an p'oint within the circle defined; by the radius fhav ing as its length the length of the flexible connecting cable In the accompanying specification I'shall describe, anclin the annexed drawing show, apreferred embodiment presentin vention. It is, however, to be clearly 1 -11-- erial P- 3 45x 1,

said -'illustrative embodiment of the present invention, and

Figure Qis a view in si in section", ofthe samelf 7 Referring to the said} illustrative embodiment of the present invention, 10 indicates the body or, chassis of'th'e' vehicle, in the present. instance comprising a subst'antially rectangular base or platfofin, as of wood, andi a forward member 11' suitably attached to'the member 10 asby means of screws or other fastening devices 12. At 131 have indicated the front axle which is pivotaliy attached to the forward member ll, as a the pivot 14 ,andwhich' carrik-is the freely rotatable or anew-front wheels 15 and 16.

At 17 1 have indicatedthe rear axle,

which is suitably attached to' the base or body portion lO 'ofthe vehicle. and which carries them; wheels 18 and 19, 01 which thewh'eel 18 is freely I rotatable "or "loose, while the-wheel-19 is suitably attached to'the rear aiile 17 so as to rotate with the same and thus propelthe vehicle when the axle is malaria the manner subsequently set forth in detail;

'At' 20-, 1* have indicated-an inclined board or other member serving as a seat for the driver of the vehicle, and providq-zd with a frontfportioii 21 in the form of a narrow board-or equivalent member to give the seat QOt-heproQer inclination Gooperating with the is a back supporting member 22 which"cooperates" with the top and rear members andl lsi and the side members and- 216 to' provide a housing, generally in dicatedby reference character 27, for the operatingparts of the vehicle. Re'adyaccess may be had to the interior of the. housing 27 byproviding,suitable removable fasten ingmeans,fgenei a l-ly indicated by reference character 28, for the top,rea r and side memhersQ-B, 24, and; 2'6,'resp ectively, of the" housing 27', thus rendering these portions "of the hbusi-ngreadilyremovable and freely detachable lbyrneans of-th mo able fastening devices2'8'.- W

de elevation, partly In order that the vehicle may have the desired flexibility of operation, together with forward and reverse speeds, and also means for readily reversing the direction of propulsion of the vehicle, and in order also, that I may provide suitable means for associating suitable reduction gearing with the motor to accommodate its normally rapid speed of rotation to the comparatively low speed of rotation of the driving gear, I prefor to use the following arrangement, although other equivalent arrangements may be employed where the same serve the same general purposes:

On a platform 30, which is pivoted at 3i to the base 10, I mount an electric motor 32, having the usual armature shaft b3 which carries at its outer end the pinion 34-. For many purposes, especially where the vehicle is intended to be used by children and high speeds of propulsion are not desired, the motor may be of as small a horse power as one-eighth or one-quarter of a horse power. Preferably, also, the motor is of the universal type, capable of using either direct or alternating current.

The pinion 34c meshes with another pinion 35, carried on a suitable shaft 36, suitably mounted for rotation within the frame 37 of the motor 32. The ratio of the gears and is such as to enable these gears to serve as suitable reduction gearing for the motor and the driving shaft 36, which latter carries atone end the pinion and at its other end the drive pulley 38, which is preferably of the friction type.

The various parts of the motor and the associated reduction gear and driving mechanism thus far described are all carried by the tiltable platform 30. I shall now describe those parts of the driving and propelling mechanism which are not carried by the tiltable platform 30. Such parts comprise principally a driven pulley 59, preferably of the friction type, which is carried by the rear axle 17, as more clearly shown in l igure 2 of the drawing. By the suitable rotation of the driven pulley 39, which is keyed or other 'ise ailixed to the rear axle 17, the rear axle 17 is caused to rotate, carrying with it the driven wheel 19, which is similarly keyed or otherwise afiixed to the rear axle so to rotate with the same;

The means for reversing the direction of propulsion of the vehicle may comprise an arm d0, pivoted as at 4:1 to the rear portion of the base or platform 10,-and carrying at its upper end the reverse pulley 42, which may also be of the friction type, for cooperation either with the driven pulley 39, alone, in the idleposit-ion of the latter, for the forward propulsion of the vehicle, or with both the driving pulley 38 and the driven pulley 39, in its active position, for the rearward propulsion of the vehicle.

In order to assure that the reverse pulley 4-2 has proper frictional contact with the driven pulley 39, I provide means for adjusting the degree of frictional contact between the two pulleys just referred to. Preferably such adjusting means comprises a rod 43 attached at one end to the arm to carrying the reverse pulley 42, and having its other end threaded, as shown at di. Over the threaded end ll of the rod d3 passes an adjusting bolt 45 bearing against an abutment d6. It is obvious that by the suitable manipulation of the adjusting bolt all), which is internally threaded so as to cooperate with the external threads of the outer end ll of the rod 13, the degree of friction between the reverse pulley a2 and the driven pulley 39 may be readily adjusted to any desired extent.

In order to manipulate the reversing mechanism for reversing the direction of propulsion of the vehicle, 1 provide whatmay be termed a clutch operating lever L7, provided with the operating handle 48 and pivoted, as at 419, to the base or platform 10. At a point removed from the pivot point 19, the clutch lever 47 is provided with a link 50 pivoted to the clutch operating member M, as at 51. At 52 I have indicated an operating member in the form of a rod pivoted at a point intermediate its ends to the base or platform 10, and pivotally connected at one of its ends to the link 50, as at 5 At its other end, indicated by reference character 55, the rod 52 is pivotally connected to an extension 56, rigidly connected to the tiltable platform 30 carrying the mo tor 32, the reduction gear and certain portions of the driving mechanism.

Current is supplied to the motor 32 at the terminals 57 and 58 of the same, by means of a flexible connecting cable 59, provided at its outer free end with a suitable connection plug 60, preferably of the prong type, for ready connection with a cooperating base plug 61., which is carried at one end of a flexible cable 62 carrying at its other end a suitable connection pliu 63, preferably of the prong" type, for ready connection with a cooperating liiase plug 64-. One cable 62 is of any suitable or desired length, depending upon the radius of the circle within which it is desired that the vehicle shall be operated.

The connectors 59 and 62, and the plugs 61, 63 and 64:, are so constructed and arranged as to permit of the ready disconnection of the cable 62, supplying current to the motor 32 from the outside source of current at the base plug or other connection device 64, from either of the base plugs 61 or 64;, or both, when a predetermined degree of tension is applied to the cable 62. This may readily happen when the vehicle has travelled a distance At 63, I have indicated whatmaybe termed a dashboard, vwhichcarriesany suitable electric switch, preferably of'the snap type, and indicated by reference character Oet, for closing or opening the circuit to the electric motor 32. At 65, I have indicated suitable steering means which may include a forked member 66 rigidly attached to the front axle 13, and provided at its upper end with a steering wheel (36 which can be swung to the left or to the right, as desired, for steering the vehicle.

The operation of the vehicle described above, and the advantages of the same in use, may be readily perceived from the foregoing description. Upon the operator taking his seat on the vehicle, and suitably operating the switch 64 to close the current through the motor, he operates the handle 4-8 of the clutch operating lever 47 rearwardly, or towards himself, which brings the drive pulley 38 out of its neutral or intermediate position between the reverse pulley 42 and the driven pulley 89, in which position it is out of contact with both of these pulleys, into a position of firm frictional engagement with the driven pulley 39, carried by the rotatable rear axle 17. This causes the propulsion of the vehicle in a forward direction. Current is readily supplied to the motor through the flexible cable 59, which, as already stated above, is readily disconnectible so that at the end of the length of the cable, should any undesirable tension be applied to the same, the cable will be readily disconnected,

thus serving to interrupt the current otherwise going to the motor 82.

During the forward propulsion of the vehicle, the same may be steered in any desired direction, to any point within the cirele having as its center the base plug or floor-connection 61, and defined by the ra dius having the length of the cable 59, just as if there were no outside connecting cable limiting the freedom of propulsion of the vehicle.

If the driver now desires to stop the vehicle, he may operate the clutch operating lever 47 by means of the handle 48 into a neutral or intermediate position, by pushing the same slightly in a forward direction until the drive pulley 88 assumes its neutral or intermediate position between the reverse pulley l2 and the driven pulley 39, in which position it isout of' contact with both of the-pulleys last referred to. Inthis position, the drivepulley 38 wil-lbe idly n-ingwith the motorgoing but with the vehicle at-rest:

Should-thedriver now desire to reverse the direction of propulsion-of the-vehicle so that it will move backwards, he operates theclutch operating member 47, bymeans of the handle l8, in a forward direction, thus tilting the rnotorZ-lil carried by the platform 30 so as to bring the drive pulley 38 into-contact'with thereverse-pulley 4:2 and out of contact with the driven pulley This causes the propulsion of the vehicle in a reverse or backward direction. The normal directions of rotation of the drive and driven pulleys are indicated in Figure 1 of the drawing by the arrows.

It will be noted that where the reversing mechanism is operated to change the direcn Lution of propulsion of the vehicle, as from a forward direction to a rearward direction, or vice versa, this reversal of direction of propulsion is brought about without changing the direction of rotation of the armature shaft of the motor 82. At the same time, the reversal of direction of propulsion acts as a brake to slow up the vehicle in either direction of its initial propulsion, by the action of the various friction gears 38, 89 and 42.

The device is exceedingly simple in construction, so easy to operate that a young child can operate the same readily and with safety, and is altogether safe'to entrust to young children. The removable closure of the motor housing 2-7 renders the ready inspection of the various moving parts of the vehicle convenient, while at the same time protecting such moving parts from tampering with and from injuring persons who might otherwise be injured by the same.

It is to be noted that the term vehicl as used in the specification and claims, and wherever such a meaning is consistent with the context, may include such devices as power-propelled lawn mowers and the like. It is also to be noted that by the term. reduction gearing, or its equivalent, as used in the specification and claims, and wherever such a meaning is consistent with the content, may include also gearing which increases, rather than reduces, the number of revolutions per minute of the driven shaft with respect to the driving shaft. it is also to be noted that any suitable reel or other take-up device may be used for taking up the loose portion or slack of. the connecting cable.

lVha-t I claim is:

1. An electrically driven motor vehicle, comprising in combination, a wheel base,

wheels supporting the same, certain. of said wheels being readily dirigible so as to permit the vehicle to be propelled in any desired direction, an electric motor mounted on said wheel base and operatively connected to at least one of said Wheels so as to drive the same and thus propel the vehicle, a flexible conducting cable connecting said electric motor to a suitable outside source of current for supplying current to said motor, and means for rendering said cable freely disconnectible upon a predeterniii'ied amount of tension being applied to the same.

2. in vehicle of the character described, :1 heel base. wheels supporting the same, a

July, 1922.

M. EDGAR THOMAS. 

